Standard Lemma guide

meteoroid

noun · 2 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.

Sound

Pronunciation

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1

noun

Meaning 1

A relatively small (sand- to boulder-sized) fragment of debris in a star system that produces a meteor when it hits the atmosphere

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Topics: astronomy, natural-sciences

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

2

noun

Meaning 2

(astronomy) any of the small solid extraterrestrial bodies that hits the earth's atmosphere

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: meteor

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: extraterrestrial object, estraterrestrial body

Narrower terms: meteorite, meteor swarm

History

Etymology

Etymology tree English meteor Ancient Greek -ο- (-o-)der. Latin -o- Proto-Indo-European *weyd- Proto-Indo-European *-os Proto-Indo-European *wéydos Proto-Hellenic *wéidos Ancient Greek εἶδος (eîdos) Proto-Indo-European *-os Proto-Indo-European *-ēs Ancient Greek -ης (-ēs) Ancient Greek -ειδής (-eidḗs) Latin -oīdēslbor. English -oid English meteoroid From meteor + -oid.

Across languages

Translations

19 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Arabic: نَيْزَك (nayzak) — small debris in a star system
  • Bulgarian: метеороид (meteoroid) — small debris in a star system
  • Bulgarian: метеорно тяло (meteorno tjalo) — small debris in a star system
  • Esperanto: meteoroido — small debris in a star system
  • Finnish: meteoroidi — small debris in a star system
  • French: météoroïde — small debris in a star system
  • German: Meteoroid — small debris in a star system
  • Hindi: उल्का (ulkā) — small debris in a star system
  • Icelandic: reikisteinn — small debris in a star system
  • Icelandic: geimsteinn — small debris in a star system
  • Icelandic: geimgrýti — small debris in a star system
  • Irish: dreigeoideach — small debris in a star system
  • Italian: meteoroide — small debris in a star system
  • Persian: شهابوار (šahâb-vâr) — small debris in a star system
  • Persian: نیزک (neyzak) — small debris in a star system
  • Polish: meteoroid — small debris in a star system
  • Portuguese: meteoróide — small debris in a star system
  • Spanish: meteoroide — small debris in a star system
  • Tagalog: bulalayak — small debris in a star system